Appointment-Driven Communications – Part 6

TRANSCRIPT: Okay, when we tell someone that we have two test drives open today, one at 5:15 and one at 5:45, and we ask them which one works better for them, it may shock you that people will actually say ,”Oh, 5:15 works great”. They don’t always do that, though. A lot of the time they want more information and sometimes they just say “no”.

I need to understand why they can’t come in for their priority test drive. They inquired about our vehicle. And so, certainly, they need a test drive. If they just say “no”, I need to understand why. I can’t overcome “no”, but I need to know why.

Next, I need to learn to say, “It would be irresponsible for a dealer to give you that information over the phone. For example: trade value. We can estimate trade value. We certainly can. There are lots of tools out there that can do that. Remember, the average consumer has done about 19 hours of research and google says they’ve visited 18.2 sources of information, and, so, they probably know about what their vehicle is worth. If they say, “I’m not coming in until you tell me exactly what you’re going to give me for my 2008 Ford Taurus”, and we give them a number, they won’t need to come in. In fact, the only number we could give them would be a low ball number because we cannot guarantee the value of a vehicle even if we use a tool like ‘autotrader trade-in marketplace’. That value is a low ball. That value is, most often, an insult to consumers.

What we need to do is stop giving information. That’s not our goal. Our goal is to get an appointment that shows. So, let’s agree that it’s irresponsible to give trade value over the phone and we need to tell the consumer that. “Well, I’m not coming in until you tell me what my 2008 Ford Taurus is worth”. To counter that, we need to create a little excitement; “Oh, my gosh, Mrs. Jones. I didn’t know you had a trade. You’ve got a 2008 Ford Taurus? That’s great, we can’t get those at auction, and I’ll tell you what: generally we’re paying above book value. However, it would be irresponsible for a dealer to give you that information over the phone. Only a trained appraiser knows what your Taurus is worth. Now, I do have two appointments open with my appraiser today. I’ve got one at 5:15 and one at 5:45. Which one of those works better for you?”

See, I’m going to overcome their objection in a way that frames the next step, which is to schedule the appointment. I’m going to have discipline. You have to have the discipline to come back to: “I have two….whatever. I have two test drives open on that Camry today. I have two appointments open with my appraiser today”. How about this one because you’re going to hear it, “I’m not coming in until you tell me what my interest rate is going to be. I’m an 800.” Okay, when they say they’re an 800, we know they are referring to their credit score, but, actually, the only people who shout out that they’re an 800 are the 645’s, right?

Anyway, let’s do this: Let’s agree that it’s irresponsible to give an interest rate over the phone, because it is. We don’t know who we’re talking to. We don’t know if they’re really an 800 and if they’ve agreed to give us all their information, say, filling out a credit ap online, and then they want to call to get that information, again, we don’t know if we’re talking to that person, and we can’t share that information with people over the phone.

So, what we need to do is, we need to say, “Listen, Mrs. Jones, if you’re an 800 you know you’ll qualify for the very best credit rate that’s out there. You’ll get the lowest rate and I can tell you this, we work with 27 banks and credit unions and we will get you the lowest rate you qualify for. However, it would be irresponsible for a dealer to give you that information over the phone. Now, I do have two appointments open today with my business office, and my business manager would be happy to give you that information. I’ve got a 5:15 and a 5:45. Which one works better for you?”

There’s at least three pieces of information that would be irresponsible for a dealer to give over the phone. There really are. There’s the trade value (because you can only low ball), there’s the interest rate (because we don’t know who we’re talking to), and, finally, it’s the payment. We don’t know all the particulars. We don’t know what their trade’s truly worth, we don’t know how much money they are going to put down, we have no idea what their interest rates going to be because we don’t know who we’re talking to.

So, let’s remember that it would be irresponsible for a dealer to give out that information over the phone, and then let’s frame the next step, let’s frame that objection that takes them to the next step: “However, I have two of those appointments open today.”